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The transperineal approach is preferred to reduce prostate biopsy (PB)-related infections. Fluoroquinolones are suspended for prophylaxis of PB in the European Union; therefore, alternative antibiotics based on local resistance, or targeted prophylaxis, in conjunction with povidone-iodine rectal preparation are recommended for transrectal PB.

After a long-term toxicity study on Bisphenol A (BPA), the European Union and U.S food and drug administration updating the rules regarding the usage of BPA by extending the prohibition of BPA to include in the production of papers, on February 2018. Therefore, it is essential to establish the trace level BPA detectors in paper samples. In this report, the synthesis of novel ZnO nanoclusters wrapped with reduced graphene oxide (ZnO NCs/rGO) and its application towards the selective electrocatalytic detection of BPA are described. Initially, ZnO NCs/rGO is synthesized by the one-step hydrothermal approach, and various characterizations explain the compound's compositions and structure. The significance of ZnO NCs/rGO together with good electrocatalytic properties leads this material to the platform for electrochemical sensor. Finally, ZnO NCs/rGO was fabricated and validated as an effective sensor for the sensitive detection of BPA. The demonstrated sensor revealed excellent detection of BPA with the very low detection limit (2.1 nM), and also it offered good analytical parameters with more extensive linear range and higher sensitivity. Likewise, the sensor annexes good durability, reproducibility, and selectivity towards the determination of BPA. Due to the nourishing capacity of the prepared ZnO NCs/rGO, it is employed for the detection of BPA in tissue paper samples.

Success management can bring valuable contributions to improve project results and stakeholders’ relationships. However, the success management process must be explicitly integrated into project management approaches, guides and methodologies (such as PMBOK, PRINCE2 or PM2), which is not currently happening. The purpose of this position paper is to discuss the need and importance for this integration and to present a first proposal on how this can be operationalized. To support the position, the methodology of the European Union PM2 was used. The result of the integration demonstrates that it is possible to advance management and raise the level of project success.

The European Union has set a milestone for cutting its carbon emissions by 2030 to levels 40% below the levels of 1990 through domestic reductions, improved energy efficiency and the greater use of renewable energy sources. In parallel, the key challenge of the pulp and paper industry (PPI) is how to achieve a transformation towards a bioeconomy, as well as to realize the necessary new green innovations. Climate change, material resource scarcity and ecosystem decline are among the ten major sustainability megaforces identified by KPMG (2012), globally influencing business environments. However, the relative importance of these megaforces in the context of pulp and paper sector transformation is yet unknown. We therefore investigate the significance of these megaforces and their relation to the drivers of sustainability-related investments in the European pulp and paper sector, and identify threats and opportunities that these business environmental changes may bring about. Our results are based upon a three-round dissensus-based Delphi approach carried out with a sample of 30 high-level European PPI experts collected in 2014. The panelists identified a greater demand for energy, volatility in the fossil fuel markets and increasing material resource scarcity as the most significant sustainability megaforces shaping European PPI over the next 15 years. However, all the megaforces – except for global ecosystem decline and water scarcity – were perceived more as opportunities rather than threats to European PPI business, indicating that designed energy and environmental policies have the potential to advance a paradigm change towards a bioeconomy rather than curbing the future of the European PPI.

German Abstract: Dieser Beitrag uber die Zukunft der Europaischen Union zeichnet die historische Entwicklung uber die Frage "Wo kommen wir her?" uber die Frage "Wo stehen wir?" nach. Anschliesend wird die Frage "Wo wollen wir hin?" anhand des Weisbuchprozess der Europaischen Kommission erortert. Der Autor skizziert kurz die verschiedenen Szenarien des Weisbuch, um abschliesend mogliche Bausteine fur die Zukunft der EU im Jahre 2025 zu identifizieren. English Abstract: This paper on the future of the European Union traces the historical development from the question "Where have we come from?" to the question "Where are we?". Then the question "Where do we want to go?" is discussed on the basis of the European Commission's White Paper process. The author briefly outlines the different scenarios of the White Paper to conclude by identifying possible building blocks for the future of the EU in 2025.

In light of the upcoming opportunity for Cyprus and other Member States to appoint by rotation an Advocate General (‘AG’) to the Court of Justice (‘ECJ’) in 2020-21, the objective of the present report taking the form of a discussion paper is to clarify the law and practice related to such appointments and set out recommendations accordingly. It does so by looking in particular into the relevant provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’), namely the Article 253 TFEU requirements themselves, the reports of the Article 255 TFEU Panel, and the selection processes carried out at the national levels. Article 253 TFEU requires only that such nominees are persons whose independence is beyond doubt and who either meet the requirements for highest national judicial office or who are jurisconsults of recognised competence. An Article 255 TFEU Panel was established with the Treaty of Lisbon and is responsible for advising the Council of the EU on the suitability of candidates appointed to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Panel has elaborated upon the Article 253 TFEU requirements, taking six considerations into account in their assessment: i. legal capabilities; ii. professional experience; iii. ability to perform duties of a judge (or Advocate General); iv. language skills; v. ability to work in a team in an international environment in which several legal systems are represented; and vi. whether their independence, impartiality, probity and integrity are beyond doubt.1 In a 2018 report, the Panel stated that ‘[i]t considers all professional paths in the field of law to be equally legitimate to apply for the office of Judge or [AG]’, ‘in particular, those of judge, university professor, jurisconsult, lawyer or senior official specialised in the field of law.’2 The Panel is further elaborated upon in Part I, including through its latest report published in January 2020. To further assist in understanding the nature of Advocate General appointments in the EU, a study was undergone into the law and practice at the national level related to ECJ appointments (Part II and the Tables in the Annex), and also into the characteristics of the profiles of the AGs that have been successfully appointed to date (Part III).

The data protection directive of the EU was set up to allow the freedom of movement of people between member states. This has the consequence of allowing the freedom of transfer of data between member states in research. The paper discusses three cases discussed during the project to see whether RECs can refuse research based on concern for data protection in some member states. Since the directive is not, as commonly thought, intended to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals – something which is the function of the Data Protection Acts of individual states, Member States do not have a right to prohibit research based on data laws. One must express concerns directly to Brussels. Conversely it is debated whether some research considered unlawful in one particular member state can be refused by this same state.

Eleven million tonnes of waste are produced yearly by the European pulp and paper industry, of which 70% originates from the production of deinked recycled paper. Wastes are very diverse in composition and consist of rejects, different types of sludges and ashes in mills having on-site incineration treatment. The production of pulp and paper from virgin pulp generates less waste but the waste has similar properties to waste from the production of deinked pulp, although with less inorganics. Due to legislation and increased taxes, landfills are quickly being eliminated as a final destination for wastes in Europe, and incineration with energy recovery is becoming the main waste recovery method. Other options such as pyrolysis, gasification, land spreading, composting and reuse as building material are being applied, although research is still needed for optimization of the processes. Due to the large volumes of waste generated, the high moisture content of the waste and the changing waste composition as a result of process conditions, recovery methods are usually expensive and their environmental impact is still uncertain. For this reason, it is necessary to continue research on different applications of wastes, while taking into account the environmental and economic factors of these waste treatments.

The publication was issued within the project ‘Transfer of Know-How for Small and Mid-size Businesses in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine’ which aims to assist SMEs in those countries by providing support to stakeholders in their efforts to develop analytical and policy advocacy capabilities and by opening new channels of communication between SMEs and NGOs in the Visegrad Four countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) and the rest of the European Union.The objective of the study is to deliver the complete findings and outcomes of the project aimed at Ukraine. This White Paper serves as an authoritative document with action plans, budgets, and a tangible way for the beneficiary country stakeholders to move forward with the agenda of small and medium-sized business development.It presents an overview of the collected background information and contains basic data on the countries, including some key macroeconomic comparisons as well as rankings in major competitiveness reports (e.g. Doing Business report by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), identifies the project stakeholders and provides an overview of the situation of small and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine. It also includes the findings of two surveys implemented by the Slovak-Ukrainian team.Based on the findings, the “Discussion and Recommendations” section presents various perspectives on the problems of SMEs in Ukraine using the experience of the accession process of Slovakia, specific examples of key initiatives that led to the resolution of the problems, as well as case studies from various industries. It stresses the involvement of all parties including the EU, local governments, civil society, business associations, and the SMEs themselves.The key outcome of the paper is a road map – a very specific plan of actions including schedules, budgets, and other details within the scope of this project that will help the beneficiary country to cope with problems regarding the agenda of small and middle business development using the expertise and experience of institutions and stakeholders accumulated throughout the Slovak EU accession process. It includes a wide range of activities including a discussion of the project results with various Ukrainian stakeholders, workshops aimed at increasing knowledge about EU markets, legislation and standards, as well as strategic and institutional moves.

Due to the introduction of the European Union Landfill Directive, composting has become a potentially viable disposal route for some organic wastes. As waste-derived compost is frequently added to soil to improve soil quality, it is important to quantify the environmental risk posed by potentially toxic elements contained within it. Here we used a sequential chemical extraction procedure to investigate the temporal dynamics of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb and Ni) during the co-composting of biosolids, deinking paper fibre and green waste. Overall, composting over 26 weeks reduced the availability of Ni, had no effect on Pb and slightly increased the availability of Cu and Zn. We conclude that although the total Cu and Ni concentrations in the compost exceed legislative guidelines for land application, due to their recalcitrant nature within the compost, this compost posed very little threat to soil or plant quality if used in agriculture or land restoration.

Government spending on bailing out banks and financing a variety of stimulus packages following the US real estate and financial crisis led to a sharp increase in the already very high level of public debt also of the member countries of the European Monetary Union (EMU). Countries such as Greece, Italy, Belgium, France and even Germany in particular depend on very low or at least low interest rates to stabilize their financial situation. Thus, the central reason for the European Central Bank's low interest rate policy, which has been in place for almost 10 years, is to provide the highly indebted countries of the EMU with a significant reduction in the interest burden in favor of a solution to the debt problem: giving time for a lot of necessary reforms to increase economic development. But none of this has succeeded in the last 10 years. Instead, the budgetary situation in the euro countries is getting worse, the disparities in economic development are increasing rather than diminishing, thereby endangering the stability of the euro and thus the future of the single currency. There is an urgent need for sustained higher net investments in nearly all sectors of all countries from Greece to Germany: instead, net investment in the countries of the EMU is clearly decreasing and Europe is in danger of being left behind not only by the two economic powers USA and China. This outlines a problem that is as pressing as it is topical: the question of how to restore Europes’ economic power. The key lies in the question of how can we be able to solve the crippling debt problem of European countries quickly and sustainably. The answer given by the discussion paper is a kind of debt relief, implemented as a conversion of a relevant amount of the government bonds held by the ECB. Conversion means extending the repayment to 80-100 years and the interest rate to be set very low. Of course a binding agreement is inevitable that net new debt can only be taken up to the maximum value of the GDP growth of a certain period. Only countries can participate in the debt conversion which commit themselves to making higher net investments to be specified more precisely, to carry out reforms especially concerning the efficiency of taxation, respectively set lower and upper limits for some taxes of the central government, and harmonize them within narrow ranges. Also it is necessary to reasonably reduce and largely deregulate bureaucracy and put an end to shadow economy and corruption. By regaining financial strength as a result of a debt conversion, which is only possible within a strong supranational framework, the advantages of membership in the European Monetary Union will once again become evident, and the European Union can again become a shining example of freedom and prosperity, the way that Robert Schuman did formulate as a vision in.

This article charts the period between 1985 and 2015 and looks at the impact that the European Union Merger Regulation has had during that time on the ways in which modern businesses can collaborate to innovate. Particular attention is paid to the car manufacturing industry. The car manufacturing industry affects millions of people around the world and the strategic business decisions of automakers can have deep political and economic consequences. This makes it prone to political intervention on both sides of the Atlantic, which can prove to be a burden by preventing rational actions and hindering the implementation of a group’s planned industrial strategy. The case study describes recent developments in the car industry from the perspective of the theories of harm which lawyers and economists have identified as being worthy of the attention of competition regulators.

Economics seeks to understand and explain the allocation of resources within society and to suggest appropriate policy to achieve goals such as optimal efficiency. Relating antimicrobial use and antibiotic resistance is a complex task and requires very clear and careful analyses of many relationships. To address these relationships, antibiotic use data must be linked with other basic data. Ideally, a complex relational database needs to be developed. These must include data on: antimicrobial usage, farm-level animal productivity, basic disease, basic farm management, consumer response, and antimicrobial resistance at multiple levels (farm, during process, on a variety of both animal, vegetable and grain-derived food products, from humans, from other animal species, and from the environment) among other data. Such a complex relational database can help with the attribution and risk assessment process. Also these linked data are needed in order to develop the economic production models and other economic models, as well as control for confounding so that there is both adequate and appropriate statistical control. Antimicrobial usage data may become economically important for reasons unrelated to animal productivity and animal health. With expanding global trade of animals and animal products, there have been changes in restrictions and regulations associated with the movement of products. Future trade opportunities may be linked to antimicrobial usage. The European Union banned the use of antimicrobials for growth-promoting purposes based on perceived risk and on public opinion. Monitoring antimicrobial use, disease occurrence, and resistance patterns following changes in usage that are a result of either policy changes or response to new information will help in the understanding of the complex relationships in microbial and disease ecology. There is a lot of evidence substantiating the productivity and profitability gains to producers from the use of antimicrobials. There is also evidence for the potential gains to consumers, both from an economic perspective as well as from a health perspective. Economists can help identify the implications of these relationships both at a micro- and macroeconomic level; both relative to producer and to consumer welfare. We are at a pivotal time in history with sufficient analytical expertise and tools to address this complex issue from a scientific perspective. Linking various agencies so there can be coordination of data collection and data sharing is needed to successfully address this topic.

Past experience in science has thought us the importance of ethics in research. Research is important to the advancement of medicine and therefore good clinical practice in research maintains public trust which otherwise is not only lost but may cause science to seem negative. The rights of participants in the research trial are discussed. This includes knowledge and information about the research itself, the obligations of the researchers and the rights of participants during the research. The EU Directive on Good Clinical Practice in research trials is reviewed, including the twelve principles of the directive. The function and composition of Research Ethics Committees is discussed in the context of protecting patients and participants, asserting quality and monitoring of the research, qualifications of the scientists and liability.

Unlike the previous literature focusing only on the direct effect of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) on the international competitiveness of a regulated industry, this study tackles both the direct and indirect effects. We designed an interactive item between the EU ETS dummy and the number of patent applications to represent the EU ETS's indirect effect. Then, based on the panel data of 42 countries' pulp-and-paper industry from 1998 to 2013, we conducted the test by using the system generalized method of moments to address the endogeneity problem. The results show that the EU ETS's direct effect is insignificant, while its indirect effect is significantly positive. That is, the EU ETS can bring positive effect by stimulating the pulp-and-paper making enterprises toward technological innovation. Our analysis further finds that this indirect effect changes from being insignificant in Phase I to be significantly positive in Phase II and Phase III as well as gradually become larger, suggesting that the ETS-induced innovation gradually became more prominent. The above findings provide convincing new evidence that the ETS's “innovative compensation effect” is greater than its cost-effect.

A quantitative analysis is given of the consequences of the recent EU White Paper on a strategy for renewable energy sources, by matching the woody biomass demand and supply by the forest industries and the energy sector in Europe in 2010, following the 5th European Timber Trends Study approach. An annual shortage of 229 million m 3 of roundwood equivalents has been identified, which can be supplemented by the establishment of 11.5 million hectares of short rotation forestry systems. However, if 50% of available agricultural residues in Europe (such as straw) were used for bio-energy purposes, then the additional biomass needs are reduced to 101 million m 3 of roundwood equivalents per annum, requiring the establishment of 5.1 million ha of dedicated energy crops.

This paper discusses the role of the European Union through its Non-Nuclear Energy R&D Programmes, sector on ‘Rational Use of Energy in Industry’, in supporting energy efficiency in the paper industry. Projects, past and present, are described, several of which involve Finnish organisations. More generic technologies, for example heat exchangers, fouling, sensors and systems engineering, which could be applied to the paper sector are also briefly discussed.

Background The Surveillance of Rare Cancers in Europe (RARECARE) project proposed a definition and a list of rare cancers. The Joint Action on Rare Cancers (JARC), launched by the European Union and involving 18 member states and 34 partners, promoted a wide consensus effort to review the list. Patients and methods A group of experts was set up, including scientific societies, member state representatives of JARC, representatives of the European Reference Networks dedicated to rare cancers and rare cancer patient advocates. The definition and the list of rare clinical entities, based on the incidence data provided by two European projects (RARECARE and RARECAREnet), were rediscussed through a consensus meeting of the expert panel. Results By consensus, it was reiterated that the best criterion for a definition of rare cancers is incidence, rather than prevalence. By consensus, the experts slightly modified the composition of the tiers of rare cancers, according to the definition based on an incidence threshold

A discussion paper was developed by a panel of experts of the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) contributing to the on-going debate on the identification, assessment and management of endocrine disruptors with a view to protect wildlife according to the EU substance legislation (plant protection products, biocides, industrial chemicals). Based on a critical synthesis of the state-of-the-art regarding regulatory requirements, testing methods, assessment schemes, decision-making criteria and risk management options, we advise an appropriate and consistent implementation of this important subject into existing chemicals legislation in Europe. Our proposal for a balanced risk management of endocrine disruptors essentially advocates transparent regulatory decision making based on a scientifically robust weight of evidence approach and an adequate risk management consistent across different legislations. With respect to the latter, a more explicit consideration of the principle of proportionality of regulatory decision making and socio-economic benefits in the on-going debate is further encouraged.

The previous two papers in this volume identified and commented upon a turn in case law towards narrowing down social rights for EU citizens while giving more attention to (nationalist) protective reflexes of Member States. Both papers criticize the type of solidarity that results from this case law; it marginalizes the weakest members of society, and excludes them from free movement rights. The case law raises doubts on the relevance of the citizenship provisions in the EU Treaties and the fundamental nature of the status of EU citizenship, and accordingly on the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the debate on welfare tourism. This paper concentrates on the latter. It will rely on and refer to the previous two papers where relevant. The questions underlying this paper are: Is the Court sensitive to the political context of fear for benefit tourism?1 Is the Court giving up its role as an engine for further integration by following the lead of the EU legislator?2 The paper will take a closer look at the arguments of the Court in the cases Brey, Dano and Alimanovic3 with the purpose of finding out whether it is possible to detect arguments underscoring the Court’s sensitivity to the political climate.

Biological agents are widely used in rheumatology, dermatology and inflammatory bowel disease. Evidence about their efficacy and safety has been strengthened for all those therapeutic indications over the last decade. Biosimilar agents are monoclonal antibodies similar to previously approved biologics. In the European Union, they have been approved for all the indications in the management of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), although data only in rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis are currently available. Direct evidence on efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of biosimilars is mandatory in psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease, as well as in children. Based on the current evidence in the literature, we present the joint official position of the Italian Societies of Rheumatology, Dermatology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease on the use of biosimilars in IMIDs.

The recruitment of patients must occur in accordance with approved standards. Speaking to a patient during a routine clinical consultation and offering to participate in a research, even if consented to, can only be an introduction to the recruitment process. The potential participant must then be referred to a competent person who explains the reasons for the research, why the patient is a good candidate, what the requirements from the participant will be, such as any additional visits and blood samples to be taken, how long the research will last, any compensation and what type of research is to be undertaken, such as a double blind-controlled trial and what it means. Participants must be given due time to reflect, discuss with friends or relatives, and have a contact person and number to be free to ask any questions. Their rights during the research have to be explicitly described and the extent to which the data is anonymised and protected must be explained realistically. Compensation moreover must be fair and not too enticing that it will cloud the judgement of the participant to volunteer. As the name implies the participant must remain a volunteer.

This paper compares the cost impact of emissions pricing in NZ manufacturing with the evidence available for United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Germany, Netherlands and Australia. It is observed that, relative to the comparator economies, a much larger share of NZ GDP is potentially at risk as a result of emissions pricing (even excluding the direct and indirect effects of agriculture). Possible reasons for this unexpected finding include: dissimilarities in industry structure, applicable emission factors for indirect emissions, level of aggregation at which industries are evaluated across countries and concentration of emissions in a small number of firms/industries. The paper identifies manufacturing activities are most emission intensive in NZ and in comparator economies. While some emission intensive activities are common to all examined economies, the food processing cluster is found to be at risk of losing competitiveness only in NZ and Australia.

In an attempt to enhance the quality of internal medicine practice and to reform the education of internists across Europe, the European Board of Internal Medicine (formed by the European Federation of Internal Medicine and the European Union of Medical Specialists Section of Internal Medicine) has launched a project aimed at defining core competencies that are common to all internists. The compilation of six core competencies presented in this paper consists of patient care; medical knowledge; communication skills; professionalism, ethical, and legal issues; organizational planning and service management skills; and academic activities. These core competencies are the foundation required for the provision of high-quality medical care everywhere, regardless of the professional traditions and organization of health care in different countries. The authors hope this paper will stimulate constructive discussion and thoughtful debate, and that it will be followed by a collaborative effort to develop and endorse a European consensus.

This paper shows that the European Union (EU) courts' case-law and general principles of EU law place the European Commission (“Commission”) under a duty to apply the Guidance Communication on Enforcement Priorities (“Guidance Paper”) in abuse of dominance cases started after its adoption. This duty includes the obligation to test Article 102 TFEU cases under the As Efficient Competitor (“AEC”) framework, as set out in the 2009 Guidance Paper. The judgments handed down by the Union courts in Intel v Commission and Post Danmark II do not alter in any way the Commission’s “self binding” duty to apply the Guidance Paper. If the Commission wishes to depart from the AEC framework, it must officially withdraw its Guidance Paper.

The law of the one price (LOP) was examined in the main European markets for lightweight coated paper (LWC paper) and uncoated wood-free paper (office paper) using monthly data for the period 1992–2005. The study focused on whether floating and fixed exchange rates impacted on the uniformity of price linkages between the main markets. Bivariate cointegration analysis between 12 pairs of paper prices largely indicated uniform price behaviour between the UK, France and Germany in both commodity groups. Although there was slight indication of the extent of market integration becoming stronger after European currency union, our results were not able to strongly distinguish the floating and fixed exchange rate regimes. Despite the different end-use sectors of the LWC paper used by the publication industry and fine paper, which is dominantly for office use, the cointegration test results did not indicate behavioural differences between the two paper grades.

Do Member States who oppose directives in the Council comply worse than those who don’t? Council level opposition is perceived to be a clear proxy for a national conflict with European legislation and subsequent poor compliance is dubbed “opposition through the back door”. However, previous research on this issue is predominantly quantitative and only deals with transposition timeliness or ensuing infringements from the Commission. This research undertakes a distinctly qualitative approach to compare compliance with the Patients’ rights Directive, in Austria (which blocked the Directive), Denmark and the Netherlands. Additionally, we also examine the impact of the misfit argument, since the Danish healthcare system’s misfit with the Directive is greater than that in Austria or the Netherlands. This study is based on expert interviews with representatives from the major institutions in Austria, and literature sources on compliance in Denmark and the Netherlands. Our findings indicate that Council level opposition does not predicate worse compliance. Furthermore, although Denmark’s system has greater difficulty implementing the Directive, compliance issues were limited to specific provisions. The study is informative of compliance with European Union action in healthcare policy and the impediments the Union faces, as it attempts to expand its role into this core national competence.

The general public in Northern Ireland has not been well served by the Brexit debate. The UK debate has been concerned with the implications of Brexit for the UK as a whole, and not on specific issues affecting Northern Ireland. This report focusses on how a Brexit might affect Irish and Northern Irish trade and travel, and the effects that it might have on peace and prosperity.

Fire safety in tunnels has come in focus owing to numerous catastrophic fires and extensive monitoring in media. Casualties can be counted in hundreds and the economic damages have been enormous not only for tunnel owners but also for users and bordering communities. The recent increase in serious road tunnel fires is closely associated with the increase in the traffic volume as well as in the large number of tunnels being built in recent years. In particular, volumes transported on heavy goods vehicles have increased by 40–80% over a decade in many European countries. Today, about 75% of all goods traffic is by road, and is expected to increase by 40–60% over the next 10 years [Thamm B. The new EU directive on road tunnel safety. In: Proceedings of the international symposium on catastrophic tunnel fires (CTF), SP Swedish National Testing and Research Institute, SP Report 2004:05. p. 19–30]. This FORUM position paper discusses some aspects on how to improve the design of road tunnels in order to obtain a higher level of fire safety. It discusses briefly design principles of tunnels as well as of fire safety of vehicles, use of forced ventilation systems and of active fire suppression.

Emissions of ammonia to the atmosphere are considered a threat to the environment and both United Nation treaty and European Union legislation increasingly limit emissions. Livestock farming is the major source of atmospheric NH3 in Europe and field applied manure contributes significantly to the emission of NH3 from agriculture. This paper presents a review of studies of NH3 emission from field-applied animal manure and of the methods available for its reduction. It is shown that there is a complex relationship between the NH3 emission rate from slurry and the slurry composition, soil conditions and climate. It is concluded that simple empirical models cannot be used to predict ammonia emission from the wide range of circumstances found in European agriculture and that a more mechanistic approach is required. NH3 emission from applied solid manure and poultry manure has been studied less intensively than slurry but appear to be controlled by similar mechanisms. The use of trail hoses, pre- or post-application cultivation, reduction in slurry viscosity, choice of application rate and timing and slurry injection were considered as reduction techniques. The most effective methods of reducing ammonia emissions were concluded to be incorporation of the animal slurry and farmyard manure or slurry injection. Incorporation should be as close to the application as possible, especially after slurry application, as loss rates are high in the 1st hours after application. Injection is a very efficient reduction technique, provided the slurry is applied at rates that can be contained in the furrows made by the injector tine.

This study focuses on the status of analytical chemistry publications among the member states of the European Union (EU) during the cumulative 7-year period 1993–1999. For assessing the scientific publication productivity in analytical chemistry and its impact among the EU countries, the total number of publications from each country, the number of publications per head of population and the mean impact factor for each country are calculated. Moreover, the preference to publish in specific journals per country is appraised.

The twentieth century is commonly acknowledged as the "age of migration". During the last 100 years population movements have intensified and, more importantly, their structure changed significantly. In terms of the geographical distribution of immigrants the European Union and traditional immigration countries became the most important target regions. In these countries immigration is commonly presented as a threat to host economies and societies. Along with this the fiscal impact of immigration are ones of the most controversial topics in recent debates on migration. Against this background this paper aims at discussing and synthesizing both theoretical and empirical literature on the fiscal impact of immigration. We hypothesize that the fiscal impacts of immigration are complex and dynamic and thus a proper assessment demands a careful empirical strategy. There is no clear or coherent theoretical framework to explain the fiscal effects of migration. The outcomes of empirical studies are mixed and they are not unequivocal. Notwithstanding, they show that, generally speaking, the fiscal impact of immigration is small. Moreover, there is no clear impact of skill level on the fiscal position of foreigners. What really matters is, instead, the type of migration, labor market incorporation (absorption) and the institutional framework at destination (the structure of the welfare state). In terms of empirical strategies we would recommend dynamic approaches, which account for the effects resulting from demographic aging.

There remains a degree of uncertainty about the role of national parliaments in the European system of governance under the rules of the Treaty of Lisbon. The legion of 10,000 national parliamentarians should guard the principle of subsidiarity in EU legislation, which now constitutes about one quarter of all laws adopted in member states. Confusion arises over how many of the new post-Lisbon prerogatives belong to individual national chambers, and how many require a collective response. Until the ‘collective’ voice is organised effectively, national parliaments will remain ‘paper tigers’ in the EU decision-making process. The national chambers’ powers could have far-reaching consequences, however, as one of their roles is to contribute to the ‘good governance’ of the European Union. Even though the readiness of national chambers to engage actively in EU affairs is limited, it is on the increase, albeit disproportionately.

This paper sets out our comments to DG Competition's discussion paper on the application of Article 82 of the Treaty to exclusionary abuses (the "Discussion Paper," hereinafter). We have focused our comments on the implications that the analytical framework proposed in Section 5 and the antitrust rules described in Sections 6-10 of the Discussion Paper could have on the development and growth of the high-tech and innovation industries (the so-called "dynamically competitive" industries) in the European Union. The important contribution of these industries to the European economy has recently been acknowledged by the European Commission in its i2010 strategy. This strategy sees growth and employment in the information, communication and technology (ICT) industries as crucial for the achievement of the goals set out in the Lisbon agenda. It is widely accepted that the growth and development of these industries requires, among other things, a stable regulatory framework that does not penalize successful firms for its own sake and promotes creativity and innovation. According to the Kok Report, prepared in response to an initiative of the European Council, "companies will only invest in innovation and RD while (2) it has an ambiguous welfare effect in the short-term. Forced access may increase competition in the short term, but it may also (a) facilitate the entry of inefficient producers; (b) promote licensing arrangements that discourage potential entrants to develop products that are sufficiently different from those of the dominant company, thus reducing product variety in the marketplace; and (c) encourage licensing arrangements that help companies coordinate their respective commercial policies, leading to higher prices. The nature and magnitude of the impact of competition policy on investment and innovation in general, and on the ICT in particular, depends crucially on the precise rules applied to the assessment of the business practices of dominant firms. This is why the Discussion Paper is so important. It "sets out possible principles for the Commission's application of Article 82 of the Treaty to exclusionary abuses" and "presents the analytical approach that could be used by the Commission" in assessing the business practices of firms with market power. Whether the application of Article 82 of the Treaty in the years to come promotes R&D investment and innovation and thus contributes to the achievement of the ambitious goals of the Lisbon agenda will largely depend on the principles and analytic approach finally adopted by DG Competition and the Commission. The remainder of this paper is structured in five sections. In section 2, we provide an overview of the importance of the ICT sector for the European economy (employment, productivity and growth) and compare its performance with the ICT sectors of the United States and Japan. We conclude that a healthy ICT sector plays a key role for the growth of the economies of the Member States. Europe's comparatively poor growth and employment record over the last decade can be explained in part by its relatively weak commitment to the development of a strong ICT industry. In section 3, we briefly review the main economic characteristics of dynamically competitive industries, such as the ICT industry. We focus on those features that have significant implications for the analysis of competition. Subsequent implications are discussed in section 4. Section 5 presents the core contribution of this paper. In this section we evaluate the various statements contained in the Discussion Paper. In doing so, we take into consideration the special characteristics of the dynamically competitive industries and the implications of those characteristics for antitrust law. Section 6 presents a brief conclusion.

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) is mainly used in the production of polycarbonate, a material with high durability and strength. This chemical is also used in the production of epoxy resins, applied in the coating of metal surfaces in contact with food. Moreover, it is employed in thermal paper. BPA has been widely reported by the media, being the aim of diverse scientific studies, since it is a xenoestrogen with a chemical structure identical to that of 17β-estradiol, which allows it to interact with human estrogen receptors. Approach: BPA monitoring is essential to avoid the potential health risk of the population, the European Union has recently updated the specific migration limit (SML) for BPA at 0.05 mg/kg of food. The present paper is the result of a vast literature review carried out to set up the state of the art related to BPA, concerning the analytical methodologies used for its determination and the levels detected in food as result of its migration from food contact materials. Conclusions: It was verified that the most used methodologies for the determination of BPA by chromatographic methods are high or ultra-highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC or UHPLC) coupled to fluorescence detector (FL) or mass spectrometry (MS) and gas chromatography coupled with MS (GC-MS). Regarding the levels of migration determined in different types of food contact materials, it was found that, despite the great majority of studies showed positive samples, none of them exceeded the value of SML established by the European Union at the time of the studies.

The main aim of this study was to analyse scientific and energy production, funding, collaboration among countries and most cited papers on the renewable energies topic through bibliometric and social network study of articles included in the Web of Science database. 12,167 papers were recovered from 2007 to 2016. Wind power is the energy from which a greater number of articles have been published (n = 3,930), followed by solar energy (n = 2,570) and ocean energy (n = 1,565). The United States leads the world production of articles (n = 2,320), followed by China (n = 1,629), the United Kingdom (n = 1007), Germany (n = 730) and Spain (n = 729). China is the leading country in financed works (80%), followed by South Korea (77%), Spain (61%) and the United States (59%). An important level of international collaboration has been identified, notably popping up the triangle made by United States, China and the European Union., LCC and RAB are funded by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (CSO2015-65594-C2-2-R).

With Bitcoin, a new type of technology was born in 2008 when Satoshi Nakamoto released the white paper for a new cash payment system (Nakamoto 2008), which effectively invented blockchain technology. By 2015 the technology already gained a lot of interest among startups, financial institutions, and industrial enterprises. Besides Bitcoin, many other crypto assets emerged with various design approaches such as stablecoins, utility tokens, security tokens, decentralized finance (DeFi), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Many of these tokens have an identifiable issuer to whom existing regulatory frameworks could potentially apply. However, other types of assets that are based on fully decentralized protocols are governed entirely by technology and either do not have an issuer (like in the case of Bitcoin) or the initiators designed the technology in an ‘issuerless’ way - and have no relation to any ‘real-world asset’. It is the latter class of assets that are truly new and that have recently attracted increasing attention from regulatory authorities, international organizations, standard-setting bodies, and the like. On the part of regulators and policymakers, interest in and the activity surrounding cryptocurrencies, crypto assets, and stablecoins peaked in 2019 so far. Of the several key regulators and policymakers at the supra-national level, nearly all issued a report, warning, study, or recommendations on some aspect of blockchain technology in financial markets. This spike in interest is related to the increasing business activity in this area and growing interest of investors and consumers. The exponential rise in the price of Bitcoin also attracted the interest of a wider audience (Edwards et al. 2019). The increasing business activity always preceded the actions of regulators and policymakers, thus rendering the activities of the latter a ‘reaction’ to the market developments. According to the Financial Stability Board (FSB), crypto assets reached an estimated total market capitalization of $830 billion on January 8, 2018, before falling sharply in subsequent months (Financial Stability Board 2018). While the global value of the crypto assets market is still relatively small compared to the entire financial system, its absolute value and daily transaction volume are substantial, and its rapid development continues, gaining increasing market acceptance (Basel Committee on Banking Supervision 2019). This paper seeks to analyze regulators’ and policymakers’ efforts to understand and develop an adequate regulatory approach to crypto assets, tokens, and the distributed ledger technology (DLT) in general. After several years of innovation in the space of decentralized technologies, several principles became clear on how to treat both issuer-based tokens and issuerless tokens. However, when regulators and policymakers tried at first to understand these new decentralized technologies and the assets they enable, it was not clear to them from the beginning how to treat assets based on this new technology. Only recently has it been possible to identify best regulatory practices and to disentangle good approaches to regulation from the ‘noise’ of warnings, recommendations, or studies. Liechtenstein has adopted a remarkable perspective on and vision for crypto assets and tokens by creating a set of abstract definitions and models and applying them in their bespoke regulatory approach. The Liechtenstein Token Act has therefore inspired other policymakers and subsequent regulatory actions. The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. First, we seek to present the history of ‘opinions’' on behalf of regulatory bodies and policymakers over the last years. These opinions often lacked clear definitions, understanding, and models but also included valuable contributions. In the next section, we present key definitions and models of the Liechtenstein Token Act and describe how these have been included in Liechtenstein’s national framework to build a solid basis for the emerging token economy. Thereafter, we describe how the European Union’s approach to regulate crypto assets - the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) - tackles crypto assets and tokens, and how it relates to the Liechtenstein Token Act. In the subsequent section, we review a variety of regulatory approaches and strategies. Finally, we offer concluding remarks.

During a lesson on Knowledge Day in September 2017, Russian President Vladimir said: “Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world”. Technology seems to have the power to change our work, our society and our daily life. It has become almost indispensable in everyday activities, and it involves many aspects of our lives. According to many experts, academics and policymakers, we are in the middle of the 4th industrial revolution that will affect our societies in the next decades. The real actor in this process is Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has become more present and essential both in the private and public sector. AI is changing many aspects of people’s lives and bring important benefits to society and the economy thanks to better healthcare, an efficient public administration, and safer transport. Comprehending and analysing AI is fundamental in order to embrace the next challenges of the future, and to be competitive with other global leaders. How can AI be used by Europe as a whole? Which are the rules that would be considered in the following years? And how would the rest of the world react to such innovations? How the EU should we respond to such innovation and create a quality brand? Intending to respond to these questions, the present paper examines the AI framework in Europe, its legal and ethical implications. This paper is divided into three sections: the first one gives an overall vision on AI and on the state of the art worldwide; the second one analyses the efforts that EU is making and should make to become a relevant character in the AI race; and finally the conclusion focuses on what lacks to Europe to be a global leader in the AI field. The United States (US) and China are clearly the world’s leaders in such environment. On the other way round, the European Union (EU), is not in the game, despite the recent legislation developed by the Commission. In order to maximise the development of AI, new rules are necessary to guarantee principles, rights, and a fair use of it. To tackle the huge development carried out by the AI world’s leaders, Europe should respond by setting two objectives: on one hand, to create a positive environment to invest; on the other hand, to emerge as a quality brand for AI, as recently happened with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The paper argues that the EU is pointing to become a sort of referee in such field, spreading rules and guidelines in the digital environment. Nevertheless, leading in this field would not permit Europe to explore the opportunities that AI may give to European technological process.

This short paper puts forth the idea of a “new external equilibrium” between the different actors of the European Union and proposes to revisit the classic dualism of exit and voice as suggested by Albert Hirschman and applied to European integration by Joseph H. H. Weiler. By resorting to the idea of an internal equilibrium between European institutions and member states in the early times of European integration, the paper develops the concept of “new external equilibrium” as a necessary balance in the external integration of the EU. It is suggested that a shift has occurred and that the traditional internal clash between the CJEU and member states has now transformed into a more complex discussion between a broader range of actors with different power-relations being formed. One the one hand we have the CJEU which, through the use of the principle of “autonomy” of the EU, claims a new voice and curbs external integration. On the other hand, member states and the remaining institutions push for further external integration and a globalized Union of law. After examining this new distribution of the relative power between institutions, member states and the CJEU, this chapter attempts to explain some of the controversial decisions by the CJEU regarding external integration, such as Opinion 2/13 or Opinion 1/17.

This paper provides a summary survey of the policy approaches to artificial intelligence-based technologies in China, the European Union, and the United States. China has the most aggressive approach, launching major initiatives since 2015 such as ‘Made in China 2025’, the Internet Plus Plan, the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan, and the Artificial Intelligence Standardization White Paper. In 2018, the EU finalized both the European AI Strategy and ‘Made in Europe’ or the Coordinated Plan on the Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. Despite a traditional reticence to adopt national strategies and perhaps pushed by growing concerns about China, the US Government announced the American AI Initiative and a National AI R&D Strategic Plan in 2019. The AI approaches in these three economies reflect their relative strengths—state control in China, citizen voice in Europe, and business practices in America. Unencumbered by privacy concerns, China’s strategy is geared to exploit the abundance of domestic data and to develop AI talent through central schemes and massive injections of money. The European Union’s regulations and spending priorities are guided by the objective of building citizen trust in AI-based technologies by safeguarding privacy and ameliorating disruptions in national labor markets. The mainstay of the US approach is to strengthen the linkages between business and AI-related research, and find ways to fund basic R&D. Despite efforts to indigenize AI innovations, all three economies face challenges. China’s AI strategy continues to rely disproportionately on just three tech giants: Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba, which have investments in more than a 100 AI-involved companies. Europe’s AI resources are unbalanced geographically—a quarter of Europe’s AI talent is in the UK and another quarter in Germany and France—and Brexit poses a serious risk. More than half of the AI talent in the US is foreign born, so immigration policies will inevitably be a central component of a national AI strategy.

Cascading use of biomass is a recognized strategy contributing to an efficient development of the bioeconomy and for mitigating climate change. This study aims at assessing the potential of cascading use of woody biomass for reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions and increasing the overall wood flow efficiency in the European Union's forest and bioeconomy sectors. A scenario and life cycle approach was followed to quantify the potential benefits of cascading use of woody biomass. We started from a reference scenario in which (post-consumer) waste wood and paper are re-utilized for energy only (S0). Then we compared the reference scenario with two alternative scenarios, the current waste wood and paper recycling practices (S1) and the maximum technical potential to increase recycling of waste wood and paper flows (S2). Following a supply chain perspective, different stages of production were analysed, including forgone fossil-fuels substitution, optimization at manufacturing level and forest regrowth. Through cascading use, the wood use efficiency ratio (cascade factor) in the European wood sector would be increased by 23% (S0 vs S1) and 31% (S0 vs S2) and GHG emissions (cradle-to-gate energy use) would be reduced by 42% (28 MtCO2-eq/year) and 52% (35 MtCO2-eq/year) in scenarios S1 and S2. However, increased wood product cascading is counter effected in the short term by reduced savings in the energy sector by 49% and 48% (−43 and −42 MtCO2-eq/year) in scenarios S1 and S2 due to delayed availability of waste wood and waste paper fibers. This explorative study highlights the potential of cascading use of woody biomass in the wood production chains to contribute to a reduction of environmental impacts related to wood resource and energy use, but it also reveals trade-offs in terms of GHG emissions reduction, relevant especially in meeting short-term (2020–2030) renewable energy targets.

Sewage sludge/biosolids are by-wastes of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. As sources of nutrients (C, N, P) they are widely used in intensive farming where large supplementation of organic matter to maintain fertility and enhance crop yields is needed. However, according to the report of European Commission published in 2010, only 39% of produced sewage sludge is recycled into agriculture in the European Union. This situation occurs mainly due to the fact, that the sewage sludge may contain a dangerous volume of different contaminants. For over decades, a great deal of attention has been focused on total concentration of few heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria Salmonella and Escherichia coli. The Sewage Sludge Directive (86/278/EEC) regulates the allowable limits of Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb, Cd, Cr and Hg and pathogens and allows for recovery of sludge on land under defined sanitary and environmentally sound conditions. In this paper, a review on quality of sewage sludge based on the publications after 2010 has been presented. Nowadays there are several papers focusing on new serious threats to human health and ecosystem occurring in sewage sludge – both chemicals (such as toxic trace elements – Se, Ag, Ti; nanoparticles; polyaromatic hydrocarbons; polychlorinated biphenyl; perfluorinated surfactants, polycyclic musks, siloxanes, pesticides, phenols, sweeteners, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, benzotriazoles) and biological traits (Legionella, Yersinia, Escherichia coli O157:H7)., Highlights • Sewage sludge contains organic and inorganic contaminants not regulated by law. • Total content of many compounds (heavy metals) is not a reliable indicator of toxicity. • Regular monitoring is crucial to limit a release of toxic substances to ecosystem.

Globally, the processing of milk and dairy products leads to huge volumes of dairy processing wastewater treated sludge. Currently, there are knowledge gaps relating to the volumes generated and the nutrient and metal contents of these sludges. This lack of knowledge prevents the dairy processing industry from making informed pre and post waste generation decisions. Using Ireland as a case study volumes generated are estimated (2012–2017) and a two year seasonal database (2016–2018) across four sludge types (bio-chemically treated activated sludge; lime treated dissolved air flotation processing sludge; a combined treatment sludge and anaerobically digested sludge) utilising samples from nine dairy processing plants was created. Results show that dairy processing sludge increased by 39% in the period up to 126,718 tonnes (wet weight). Database results showed that nutrient contents did not vary seasonally but varied significantly across sludge type and processing plants. The median values (g kg−1 dry weight) for N:P:K for the four sludge types were N: 57.2, 19.5, 46 and 70.4, P: 36.8, 65.9, 20 and 14.6, and K: 7.2, 3.9, 2.9 and 6.1, respectively. Heavy metal concentrations across all samples were significantly lower than those regulated by the European Union for controlling metals accumulation in agricultural land due to sludge recycling. The characterization profile presented in this paper serves as a national and international reference database for future investigations that focus on the valorisation of dairy processing sludge.

The study explores the potential of the Croton macrostachyus seed, a non-edible feedstock found in abundance in the southeastern parts of Ethiopia, for the production of biodiesel. Soxhlet extractor was used to extract, 53.34% of the oil from the Croton macrostachyus seed. This oil was further purified and the resulting product was known as the purified Croton macrostachyus seed (P-CMS) oil. After obtaining the P-CMS oil, biodiesel was produced by the transesterification process. Focus was made on the optimization of biodiesel production by varying the identified process parameters, through the Box- Behnken Design using response surface methodology (RSM) (Design-Expert ® Version 11 software). The crude biodiesel was purified, characterized and complied with the ASTM D6751, United States and the EN 14214, European Union standards. The optimum conversion efficiency of the P-CMS oil to fatty acid methyl ether (FAME) was 96% at the optimal conditions (6:1, methanol to oil ratio; 1%, catalyst loading; 50 °C, reaction temperature). A plan for the environmental impact assessment and life cycle assessment were provided to evaluate the sustainability of this new feedstock and the biodiesel produced from it. Results of these studies indicated the prospective of Croton macrostachyus seed as a new biodiesel feedstock.

When partial nitritation-anammox (PN-AMX) processes are applied to treat the mainstream in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), it is difficult to fulfil the total nitrogen (TN) quality requirements established by the European Union (

The publication of the EU’s draft AI legal framework is a milestone in the regulatory debate on AI. It proposes a risk based approach to regulating and reporting. In this white paper, we provide a high-level overview of the risk tiers, which we take to be the kernel of the legislation, and follow this by offering our initial thoughts and feedback on strategic points of contention in the legislation. Our main takeaways are: (i) Innovation - the sandbox approach may not be enough to ensure innovation; (ii) Reporting - in the lead up to codification we would like to see reporting being used to accelerate dissemination of best practice and benchmarking; (iii) Green-flagging - there does not appear to be sufficient detail to derive a reasonable set of green-flagging conditions; and, (iv) Manipulation - addressing the ambiguity in the draft proposal of banning systems with ‘significant manipulation’. We conclude with notes on the legal status of algorithms, the status of GDPR in light of AI regulation and, the geopolitical ramifications of EU AI regulation.

The goal of this paper is to propose a democratic legitimacy framework for evaluating platform-goverance proposals, and in doing so clarify terms of debate in this area, allowing for more nuanced policy assessments. It applies a democratic legitimacy framework originally created to assess the European Union's democratic bona fides – Vivian Schmidt's (2013) modification of Scharpf's (1999) well-known taxonomy of forms of democratic legitimacy – to various representative platform governance proposals and policies. The first section discusses briefly the issue of legitimacy in internet and platform governance, while the second outlines our analytical framework. The second section describes the three forms of legitimacy that, according to this framework, are necessary for democratic legitimation: input, throughput and output legitimacy. The third section demonstrates our framework's utility by applying it to four paradigmatic proposals/regimes: Facebook's Oversight Board (self-governance regimes); adjudication-focused proposals such as the Manila Principles for Intermediary Liability (rule-of-law-focused regimes); the human-rights-focused framework proposed by then-UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; and the United Kingdom's Online Harms White Paper (domestic regime). Section four describes our four main findings regarding the case studies: non-state proposals seem to focus on throughput legitimacy; input legitimacy requirements are frequently under examined; state regulation is usually side-lined as a policy option; and output legitimacy is a limited standard to be adopted in supranational contexts. We conclude that only by considering legitimacy as a multifaceted phenomenon based in democratic accountability will it be possible to design platform-governance models that will not only stand the test of time, but will also be accepted by the people whose lives they affect.

The opportunity before the UK as a result of Brexit is a great one. But if the UK squanders it, the "new normal" of limited economic growth could prevail. The UK regulating its own economy will not render a deal with the EU impossible. As this paper will outline, it has the capacity to increase economic growth, let the UK do other trade deals, and create leverage to get positive results from EU negotiations. Political, trade, and regulatory independence is not just an ideological position, but what makes the bulk of the gains possible. This proposal will set these out and demonstrate what is likely to be lost if the UK government maintains a model similar to the approach adopted at the Chequers cabinet meeting in July 2018, further elaborated in the government White Paper, or one even more closely aligned to the EU. In the document that follows, these proposals can be understood as part of a possible spectrum of options, in which this contribution outlines our view. Meanwhile, the economic scale of the possibility suggests the opportunity to create prosperity when serious economic distortions are removed. This is a framework outlining how the UK can still attain the opportunity ahead.

The purpose of this working paper is to estimate the potential impact of the Made in China 2025 Green Paper on Technological Innovation in Key Areas: Technology Roadmap (2017) on integrated circuit (IC) producers in the United States (US), the European Union (EU), and Japan. We attempt to clearly fill in the gaps of projection and consumption data in the scenario presented by the 2017 Roadmap and using the Green Paper’s definition of consumption and production. In the first part of the analysis, we assume that the market growth, market share, and projections presented in the Green Paper as the baselines and compare them with other industry data. In part 2, we estimate integrated circuit (IC) production market shares for the U.S., EU, and Japan in both China and globally based on the assumptions made in part 1. In part 3, we estimate IC consumption shares in the US, EU, and Japan. We find that the goals imply a significant decrease in the competitiveness of the integrated circuit industries in the U.S., EU, and Japan, though this conclusion must take into account that the assumptions and logic of the Green Paper do not accurately reflect industry dynamics. Finally, we offer suggestions for future analysis.